I grew up in a non-Christian family in India. I attended a Christian boarding school and lived a highly regimented life. So I wasn’t ready for the freedom I found when I moved to Australia at age 16 to study.

Many of the young people at school smoked and drank. I wasn’t interested in these things and avoided the young people who were involved in these activities. I attended church for my first year in Australia, but then I quit. I told God that I wanted a break from Him, to see what life was like without Him. That was the most miserable year in my life.

I finished high school and started my university studies. One day while studying, I felt a sudden pain in my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. Then I realized that it wasn’t physical pain, but an ache for something. Could this be God? I wondered. I hadn’t prayed in a year, but that day I prayed. “God, if this is You, please take away this unbearable pain!” The pain went away, and I forgot about it. But when the pain returned, I knew it was God speaking to me. I found a church and attended a few times. But my job in a bar required me to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so I quit attending church.

One evening on the train home from work I met a young man, Daniel, and his friend, Keith. Daniel struck up a conversation with me. I asked him why he had chosen to speak to me, and he said God had prompted him. We continued talking, and he invited me to his home for dinner. I gave him my phone number. I got to know Keith, and I sensed that he knew God. The peace I saw in him made me wish for a relationship with Christ. I accepted his invitation to worship with him on Saturday, but the idea of worshipping on Saturday instead of Sunday seemed strange.

I graduated and began searching for a job. I couldn’t find one, and I felt frustrated and out of control. I remembered Keith and the peace he exuded. I visited him, and he invited me to a small group meeting.

I went. The group was indeed small, but the members were so genuine, friendly, and loving that I enjoyed attending. As I studied the Bible I realized that it was the Holy Spirit who had been speaking to me all these years, urging me to let God back into my life. I had come to God broken and hurting, but God put me back together.

I learned that the small group meeting was actually a Global Mission church plant designed to attract young people just like me.

(continued next week)

Vikram Panchal shares his faith with young people in Melbourne, Australia.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
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